The alarm wail split reality like a blade through silk.
Five Priolo awakened burst through the stairwell door, weapons drawn, eyes burning with righteous fury. The lead guard, scarred and battle-worn, pointed a spear crackling with Will energy directly at Jona's chest.
"Surrender, shadow-rat! There's nowhere—"
Jona moved.
[Shadow Chains: Activated]
Darkness erupted from the floor beneath two guards. Living chains of void wrapped their legs, arms, torsos—complete restraint. They crashed forward, faces slamming into stone.
[XP Gained: +25]
The remaining three charged.
Marcus flickered. Not Shadow Slip. Something else. Pure silence consuming presence. The world forgot he existed for three heartbeats.
Two guards fell. Throats opened. Blood pooling silent. Professional. Surgical.
Marcus reformed beside Jona, daggers dripping. "Efficiency in chaos," he said quietly, dark eyes gleaming.
[XP Gained: +25]
The fifth guard lunged at Jona. Sword thrust aimed for his heart.
Jona twisted. Steel grazed his ribs, tearing leather. Pain flared white-hot but adrenaline numbed it. He drove his blade upward, finding the gap between helmet and gorget.
[Health: 68%]
[XP Gained: +15]
The restrained guards were breaking free. Shadow Chains cracked under their combined strength.
[Restraint Strain: 92%]
"Move!" Marcus hissed.
They bolted for the stairs. Behind them, footsteps thundered. More guards converging. The entire outpost mobilizing.
Jona's lungs burned. His stamina debuff made every step feel like wading through mud.
[Stamina: 38%]
[Warning: Exhaustion Imminent]
They hit the second-floor landing. A dozen mech-guards blocked the corridor ahead, brass limbs gleaming, steam hissing from joints. Behind, the awakened guards pursued, weapons raised.
Trapped between steel and fury.
"Ideas?" Marcus asked.
"Working on it!"
A roar erupted from below. Primal. Rage incarnate.
Tomas crashed through a side door like a battering ram, eyes burning red, veins bulging. Bloodlust mastery fully engaged. But not uncontrolled. Focused.
He saw the mech-guards. Grinned feral.
"For Mozzeri!" Tomas bellowed, channeling everything Jona had taught him about directing rage instead of being consumed by it.
He charged.
The first mech-guard swung a steel fist. Tomas caught it. Bones should have shattered. Instead, he twisted, ripping the arm clean off. Oil sprayed. Gears screeched.
[XP Gained: +15]
"That's it!" Jona shouted over the chaos. "Train it or the monster claims you—strike for Mozzeri!"
Tomas's eyes cleared slightly. Still red, still burning, but with purpose beneath the rage. He became a living wrecking ball, smashing through mech-guards with controlled brutality.
[Tomas: Rage Control Progress 35%]
[XP Gained: +20]
A crossbow bolt took down a pursuing awakened guard. Headshot. Clean.
Jona looked up. Renna stood on a catwalk above, reloading with practiced efficiency. She caught his eye and grinned sharp.
"Don't die, idiots!" she called down. "Grind's stronger together!"
Her words hit different. Not just sarcasm. Truth. They were a crew now. Shadows protecting shadows.
[Party Bonds: Strengthened]
[Loyalty Bonus: +5% Combat Effectiveness]
"Third floor!" Marcus pointed to a side passage. "Primer room's east wing!"
They sprinted. Tomas covered their retreat, his massive frame blocking the corridor. Mech-guards crashed against him like waves against stone.
The passage ended at a reinforced door. Detection ward runes glowing red—active alarm state.
Jona's Shadow Sense tingled. Wrong. Everything felt wrong.
He kicked the door open.
Inside: Empty study. Desk. Bookshelves. And on a pedestal in the center, glowing under runic spotlight—a leather-bound tome. The primer.
Too easy.
"Trap," Marcus said flatly.
Jona circled the pedestal, studying angles. His Perception screamed warnings.
[Perception Check: Critical Success]
[Illusion Ward Detected: Masking Reality]
The primer shimmered. For one heartbeat, it looked different. Older. Decoy.
He focused his Shadow Sense. Felt the room's true structure beneath illusions. There—the bookshelf. Third row. False back.
He moved to it. Pressed the hidden mechanism.
The shelf swung open, revealing a small alcove. Inside: A fragment. Not a full primer. Crystallized knowledge glowing faint purple.
[Item Acquired: Will Fragment - Tier 2]
[Description: Condensed mastery knowledge. Fusion research potential detected.]
[Proto-Shadow Will Unlocked: Research Path Available]
[Bonus: +10% Will resistance when studying]
Jona grabbed it. Power hummed against his palm. Not full mastery theft, but knowledge. A piece of Will techniques he could study, potentially fuse with Underworld for something new.
"Got it! Let's—"
The wall exploded.
Stone and mortar showered inward. Through the dust walked a figure wrapped in authority and cold determination.
Kiarra Priolo.
Her armor gleamed despite the chaos. Longsword drawn, humming with Tier 3 Will power. Behind her, a dozen elite guards formed up, weapons ready.
She studied Jona with those intense eyes. Calculating. Assessing.
"Clever," she said. Voice controlled but something simmered beneath. "Most thieves grab the decoy and trigger the lethal trap. You saw through it."
"Years of not dying teach you things," Jona shot back. His hand moved to his sword, but he knew the truth. Tier 3 Will against his Tier 2 Underworld? In direct combat, she'd crush him.
"Justice demands I bring you in," Kiarra continued. "You killed my brother. Stole Priolo property." She stepped forward. "But lately I've been questioning what justice means. Your survival—it challenges assumptions."
"Philosophical crisis at the worst time?" Jona's sarcasm was armor against fear. "I'm honored."
"Don't mistake contemplation for mercy." Her eyes hardened. "You'll answer for Jin's death. But first, I want to understand why you're worth this much trouble."
Behind them, Tomas crashed through, panting, covered in oil and blood. Renna appeared at a broken window, crossbow trained on Kiarra. Marcus materialized from shadows, daggers ready.
Kiarra glanced at them. "Your crew. Houseless trash banded together." Her voice carried something—not quite respect, but recognition. "Loyalty built on survival. Stronger than House bonds sometimes."
"We protect our own," Jona said. "Unlike Priolo, which protects only its arrogance."
Kiarra's jaw tightened. For one moment, doubt flickered across her features.
Then she shook her head. "I know about your Hollows scout. Tomorrow night. Lomenol Kade's expedition into Vex territory." Her smile was ice. "We have eyes everywhere. Sabotage waits in those depths."
Jona's blood went cold. She knew. About the favor. About Lomenol. About the job.
"How—"
"House Priolo doesn't survive centuries by being blind." She raised her sword. "Run, shadow. Take your fragment. Train your crew. Because when you emerge from the Hollows—if you survive—I'll be waiting. And next time, we finish this properly."
She gestured. Her guards parted, creating a corridor to the shattered wall. An escape route.
"Why?" Marcus asked quietly.
"Because watching him climb makes the fall more satisfying." Kiarra's eyes never left Jona. "Justice isn't always immediate. Sometimes it requires patience."
Jona wanted to argue. To face-slap her righteous posturing. But pragmatism won.
"Team, move!"
They bolted through the opening. Into the night. Alarms still wailing behind them.
Renna dropped from the building's exterior, using a grappling line. "That was insane! She just let us go!"
"She's playing games," Marcus said. "Testing us. Or herself."
Tomas, his rage finally fading, stumbled. Exhausted. "What now?"
Jona pulled out the Will fragment. It pulsed in his palm. Power. Knowledge. A piece toward something greater.
[Quest Update: Primer Heist - Modified Complete]
[Reward: Will Fragment acquired, +150 XP total, +15% Priolo Intel]
[New Quest: Hollows Scout - Danger Level Increased]
[Warning: Priolo Sabotage Confirmed]
[Time Until Mission: 18 Hours]
"Now?" Jona looked at his crew. Wounded. Exhausted. But alive. Together.
"We're not rats anymore," he said, voice carrying steel. "We're shadows devouring the hunters. Priolo thinks they control this game? Time to show them shadows make their own rules."
Marcus's lips twitched. "Dangerous talk."
"Good thing we like danger."
They vanished into the eastern slums, leaving the burning outpost behind. Mech-guards converged too late. The shadows had struck and escaped.
But in a high window, Kiarra watched them go. Her expression unreadable.
Behind her, a subordinate approached. "Captain? Should we pursue?"
"No." She sheathed her sword. "Let them run. Tomorrow night, the Hollows will do our work for us." Her voice dropped. "Or prove whether this shadow is worth the legend building around him."
She turned away. But her hand, hidden from her subordinate, trembled slightly.
Justice once seemed clear. Absolute. But watching him spare when he could kill, build when he could destroy... what am I defending anymore?
The thought terrified her more than any enemy.
Dawn broke gray over Fennec compound.
The team stumbled through the gates. Boss Ren waited, smoke curling from his coat, expression carved from calculation.
He studied them. Wounded. Exhausted. But carrying a fragment that glowed with stolen knowledge.
"Primer?" Ren asked.
"Fragment," Jona said, handing it over. "Real one. Illusion trapped the decoy."
Ren examined it. His eyes gleamed. "Will fragment. Tier 2 condensed techniques." He looked at Jona. "You identified the decoy. Avoided the lethal trap. Fought through awakened guards and escaped a Tier 3 captain." He smiled sharp as broken glass. "Impressive."
"She let us go," Marcus said quietly.
"Even more impressive." Ren handed the fragment back to Jona. "Keep it. Study it. I'll teach you fusion basics. Combine it with your Underworld mastery, create something new. Something that makes Priolo regret underestimating shadows."
[Mentor Bond: Established]
[Training Quest Available: Will Fusion Basics]
"But first," Ren continued, "the Hollows scout. Lomenol's waiting. Eighteen hours." His expression darkened. "Kiarra's sabotage warning—take it seriously. Vex territory is deadly enough without Priolo interference."
Jona nodded. "We'll be ready."
"Good. Because the climb's accelerating, shadow-boy." Ren's smile widened. "Houses are noticing. Your legend's building. That makes you valuable." His eyes gleamed predatory. "Or a target for elimination. Sometimes both."
He walked away, leaving them with exhaustion, wounds, and a fragment that promised power.
Renna slumped against a wall. "Eighteen hours. Barely enough to sleep."
"Then let's not waste time," Jona said. He looked at the fragment. Purple light pulsed with condensed Will techniques.
Fusion path unlocked. Shadow Will combining darkness with domination. What would that create? Chains that bind wills? Illusions that corrupt minds?
The corruption risk Mom always warned about. Power's price. But recoverable through bonds and choices.
Train it. Control it. Or become Jin—monster wearing power like a costume.
"Get rest," he told his crew. "Tonight, we dive into the Hollows. Whatever Priolo planted, we'll face it together."
They dispersed. Wounded. Exhausted. But stronger for surviving.
Jona headed for his bunk. But sleep wouldn't come. His mind churned with tactics. Preparations. The weight of leadership settling heavier with each decision.
Four kills now. Jin's arrogance. Krell's bloodlust. Hunter's greed. Assassin's gold. How many more before the count stops mattering?
But I spared Vessa. Offered Garron yield. Saved Tomas from rage. That's the difference. That's Mozzeri rebuilt right.
He clutched the Will fragment. Power hummed against his palm.
Somewhere in the compound, a shadow moved wrong. Too deliberate. Too purposeful.
Jona's Shadow Sense pinged. Warning. Someone watching.
He looked out the window.
Nothing. Just compound life resuming after their return.
But the sensation remained. Eyes tracking his every move.
[Warning: Surveillance Detected]
[Unknown Observer - Threat Assessment: Uncertain]
The Hollows awaited. Eighteen hours until descent.
And deep in those tunnels, something prepared to devour shadows foolish enough to enter.
In a dark chamber across the city, a figure studied a crystal projection showing Jona's bunk window.
They smiled.
"Fragment acquired. Crew bonding. Exactly as predicted." The voice was silk wrapped around steel. "Phase two begins tonight. Let's see if this shadow survives when the tunnels collapse around him."
They pulled out a vial. Liquid inside swirled black and green. Not poison this time.
Something worse.
They laughed softly and vanished into darkness.
The countdown had begun.